Steve Smith (born May 30, 1974) is an American former

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

offensive specialist In arena football, a specialist was a player, other than a quarterback or placekicker, who was exempt from the league's one-platoon system ("Iron Man"). Under the original Arena football system, six of the eight players on each team were required ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. He was originally signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). In his career, Smith also played for the

Buffalo Destroyers Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

, and

Kansas City Brigade Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

. While he spent most of his career in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL), he did spend time in the original

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

(IFL) as a member of the Flint Flames, as well as the short-lived

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

as a member of the

Birmingham Thunderbolts The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in t ...

College career

Junior college

Smith first attended Independence Community Junior College where he was an option

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for his freshman season. He then transferred to

Chaffey Junior College Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California. History ...

where he converted to wide receiver. After the team started the season 0-3, he was switched back to quarterback. He went on to be junior college

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection.

Utah State

In February 1996, he signed to play football at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

as a wide receiver and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. He

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. As a junior in 1996, he appeared in 11 games. He recorded 32 receptions for 555 yards, and two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He carried the ball five times for 69 yards and one touchdown. He returned 17 kickoff returns for 308 yards, he also returned six punts for 20 yards. In 1997 as a senior, he recorded 37 receptions for 686 yards and three touchdowns. He carried the ball 11 times fr 66 yards. He also returned 22 kickoffs for 439 yards as well as 22 punts for 344 yards and two touchdowns. As a senior, he was a First-team All-

Big West The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

selection as a kick returner. He led the conference in punt returns, (15.6 avg.). After recording four receptions for 136 yards, one touchdown and returning two puts for 26 yards and two kickoffs for 58 yards, he was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) of the

1997 Humanitarian Bowl The 1997 Humanitarian Bowl was the inaugural edition of the bowl game now known as the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. It featured the Cincinnati Bearcats of Conference USA and the Utah State Aggies of the Big West Conference. This was Cincinnati's first ...

Professional career

After going unselected in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

, Smith signed with the

of the

(CFL). He was out of football in 1999 and in 2000 he spent time with the Flint Flames of the original

. In 2001, he joined the

of the short-lived

. While with the Thunderbolts, he recorded eight receptions for 54 yards, and one carry for 13 yards.

Return to arena football

Shortly after the XFL season ended, Smith joined the

of the

(AFL) as an

. For the 2001 season, he recorded, six receptions for 62 yards and one touchdown, as well as one kick return for 20 yards. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, he joined the

. For the season, he recorded 72 receptions for 872 yards and 26 touchdowns, and two carries for four yards and one touchdown. He recorded eight tackles and also returned three kicks for 37 yards. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

he recorded 91 receptions for 1,071 yards and 27 touchdowns. He also carried the ball twice for four yards and one touchdown. He recorded 19 total tackles. He also returned 21 kicks for 566 yards and three touchdowns. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, his final in Grand Rapids, he recorded 59 receptions for 658 yards and 10 touchdowns. He carried the ball twice for a loss of one yard. He recorded one total tackle. He also returned 71 kicks for 1,683 yards and five touchdowns. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Smith joined the

. In his first game with the Soul, he recorded five touchdown receptions from quarterback

Tony Graziani Anthony Robert Graziani (born December 23, 1973) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL), and the Los Angeles Avengers and Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League ( ...

. On the season, Smith recorded 107 receptions for 1,443 and 28 touchdowns, and five carries for a loss of one yard. He recorded four tackles. He also returned 74 kicks for 1,523 yards and three touchdowns. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, while with the Soul, he recorded 41 receptions for 419 yards and five touchdowns. He recorded one tackle. He also returned 20 kicks for 329 yards. Part way through the 2006 season, he joined the

where he recorded 42 receptions for 534 yards and nine touchdowns. He carried the ball twice for nine yards. He recorded one tackle. He also returned 38 kicks for 652 yards.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Steve 1974 births Living people American football wide receivers Chaffey College alumni Utah State Aggies football players Toronto Argonauts players Birmingham Thunderbolts players Buffalo Destroyers players Grand Rapids Rampage players Philadelphia Soul players Kansas City Brigade players